faulty/imprecise needle valve?

[illumnae]

My 1 year old JBJ solenoid seems to be having some recent issues with the needle valve.

Firstly, I can't seem to have much control over the adjustment of the valve. When I turn the knob to a "completely closed" position and start turning it very slightly to try and get a low bps, it will register 0 bps for a long while until i turn the knob quite abit, then CO2 will start rushing out in an uncountable bps, then I'll have to quickly turn the knob the other way and hope to hit a decent bps before slowly turning it towards "closed" to slowly reduce the bps. If i happen to turn a little too much, the co2 stops completely and I have to start the whole process all over again. I also can't seem to be able to adjust to anything lower than 2bps. once in a long while I'll get 0.8 bps, but usually when i shoot for 1.5bps (my desired bubble rate), I end up having to restart the process again as the co2 stops coming out at a rate below 2bps.

Secondly, I find that over the course of the day, the bps will increase from what i previously set it at. For example, i set it at about 2bps on Friday night, by Sunday night it was hitting close to 3bps.

Is my needle valve acting strange, or is this normal? It's the stock needle valve that comes with the JBJ solenoid.

If it's faulty and I need to replace it, I'm actually going to get a CO2 splitter in a couple months time. if for now I'm only going to be using 1 output, is it ok to just get the splitter now and just make use of 1 output while leaving the other at the "completely closed" position? Do I have to buy separate needle valves for the splitter or they usually come bundled? and finally, what is a good brand to get for a splitter with a reliable needle valve that won't be giving me such problems and allow me to control my bps below 2bps?

Thanks for your time and advice!

[uklau]

If it's faulty and I need to replace it, I'm actually going to get a CO2 splitter in a couple months time. if for now I'm only going to be using 1 output, is it ok to just get the splitter now and just make use of 1 output while leaving the other at the "completely closed" position? Do I have to buy separate needle valves for the splitter or they usually come bundled? and finally, what is a good brand to get for a splitter with a reliable needle valve that won't be giving me such problems and allow me to control my bps below 2bps?

Thanks for your time and advice!

Yes, you can use just one of it. The splitter comes with needle valves for every output.

Not sure about a good brand as I'm using CO2 splitter for the first time & it's only for 2 days. Bought it from NA.

[benetay]

I think this issue happens to quite a lot of us. I'm not concern about how much CO2 per second. It's just a gauge, if my plants do well at 2-3bps i think it's alright to have 2 or 3 but seems like the case of turning to 2 & resulting in 3bps, might examine a problem.

I do not know the make of the needle valve but certainly there might be a few who knows more about it.

Cheers!

[illumnae]

thanks for the feedback =) i think it's definitely a faulty needle valve. i went to NA over lunch to get the CO2 splitter and it's working fine now

[benetay]

Guess there will be wear & tear after long usage, but 'long' is relative. So sometimes i guess we're left with no choice but to replace the whole set.

[illumnae]

thank goodness the solenoid itself is still working, and that i needed to buy a splitter anyway next month, so the replacement was just done a month early with no added cost